


Rainy Days and Sundays or the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 17:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6576391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of chaos, in a world turned to the side, then upside down, shaken, and finally put back, CJ found the comfort she so desperately needed in Leos arms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rainy Days and Sundays or the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

“I’m staying in bed.” Leo grumbled, pulling the covers up and over his head.

Rain beat down on the windows and the thunder that rumbled in the distance hours ago now boomed like a sonic jet.

“As well you should since it is only 3:30 in the morning. When the hell are you going to fix that clock Leo... that is why I have to sleep with my watch on?”

Leo sighed, pulling her closer to him under the covers. She caressed his face.

“I don’t care what time it is, I am staying in bed today. I do not want to see the walls of the West Wing all day.”

“Hallelujah!” CJ replied, leaning to kiss him. “But do get up and brush your teeth, OK?”

“Remind me why I love you again.” He said.

“Because I’m cute, witty, and tall. Am I getting warm?”

“Yeah, so am I.”

His hands ran cross her naked body and CJ took a deep breath. She brought her head out from under the covers.

“What?” Leo asked.

“Did you hear that?”

“It’s your paranoia again Claudia Jean. I locked all the doors and put the alarm on before we came up last night. I am not even going to mention the four agents we have outside.”

CJ was not used to being in a house; she had not lived in one since Dayton. Leo bought her a four bedroom, three-bath house in Georgetown with a huge backyard... a house for raising children.

“Come back under here.” Leo threw the covers over her head.

CJ laughed.

“What is so funny?” he asked.

“Our bedroom consists of a bed, a television, and lots of boxes.”

“Not true. I hooked up the stereo for you on Friday night.”

CJ laughed again.

“Um honey, Sam and Josh hooked up the stereo. You standing over them with instructions like the Kaiser barely counts as supervising.”

She laughed and so did he.

“You really not going to work today?” CJ asked as her hands caressed his chest.

Leo kissed her shoulders and then her neck.

“No, I am not. Its you and me today Claudia Jean.”

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close.

“I am just about to burst with joy.” She whispered.

“There is that sarcastic streak again.”

“No, no, I’m being serious. I miss you sometimes and I just don’t say so. We are busy enough; I don’t want you to feel like you're letting me down because you are not.”

They kissed, CJ enjoyed the warmth of his body so close to hers. His naked body. They always slept in the nude now, unless she slept in one of his shirts... Leo bough shirts now, wore them once and then passed them to his wife. Whoa, wife, that was a word that Leo McGarry was sure he would never use again. Ex-wife, migraine, situation; those words were always fresh in his mind. Every morning when he woke at 6am and saw CJ asleep beside him, limbs everywhere and hair covering most of her face, Leo thanked the higher power that he was deemed deserving enough of that kind of love.

“How is it possible that your feet are cold?” CJ asked squirming. “I am going to make you sleep in socks from now on.”

Leo put his foot on CJ’s leg; she jumped and yelped. She slapped his arm before kissing him passionately. The past couple of months had been hard on all of them. The presidential assassination attempt in Rosslyn turned the whole world upside down. For hours, neither Leo nor CJ knew if the other was alive. He had to tend to the wounded President; she watched as Josh almost died.

In the aftermath, Toby was angrier than ever, Sam seemed withdrawn, and Josh got a PTSD diagnosis. January was here again and the Bartlet Administration picked up the pieces of their lives and their jobs. In the middle of chaos, in a world turned to the side, upside down, shaken, and finally put back, CJ found the comfort and safety she so desperately needed in Leo’s arms.

Sometimes she would wake in the middle of the night, reaching for him. She would be terrified, remembering those few desperate moments worrying Josh would die and that Leo was already dead. Leo would hold her; she would shake, and then fall asleep again in tears. The senior staff was far from out of the woods.

“Do not touch me with those ice blocks!” CJ exclaimed.

Leo held her down, planting kisses all over her face. CJ flailed her arms; the covers flew everywhere. He laughed.

“It is too early in the morning for tomfoolery.” She said when he released her.

That just made Leo laugh harder.

“You're so cute when you say things like tomfoolery.”

They held hands as CJ started to fall asleep.

“Do you think I can get some more sleep since I am going to be graced with your presence for the rest of the day?” she asked.

“Tell me you love me.” Leo said.

“I love you.”

“Give me a kiss.”

She kissed him, sucking gently on his bottom lip.

“OK, get under the covers and make me scream your name.”

CJ laughed.

“I am already under the covers and kicking you could achieve the same end.”

Leo took her into his arms and let her sleep.

“I love you baby.” He whispered.

“I love you too.”

***

When CJ opened her eyes, Leo was gone. She frowned a bit, sitting up on her elbows. There was a full coffee mug beside her on the night table that was still hot. She drank letting the caffeine course through her veins. Leo came into the bedroom with a large thermos of coffee and a plate of corn muffins. He also carried the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and the New York Times. CJ propped up his pillows as he climbed into bed. He kissed her.

“Good morning my darling.” He said.

She smiled.

“You are ready for an all day slumber party. Thanks for the coffee.”

“If you also noticed, I brushed my teeth.” Leo replied.

“I am so proud of you. I’ll be right back.”

CJ went to the bathroom for a quick shower while Leo spread out the newspaper. He drank coffee and put CNN on mute. In the shower, CJ said a small prayer that for one day no major crises would take her husband from her. Who knew that they were newlyweds? After the midterm elections, when Josh could stand longer than 15 minutes at a time, there was a small wedding in the Mural Room followed by a night of lovemaking in the Lincoln Bedroom (which every couple that stayed there, except probably the Lincolns, did). There was no honeymoon, no time off, and no lazy days. Right back to the salt mines... romance would have to wait.

CJ was not as perturbed as most thought her to be. She knew the importance of the job and all that was happening right now. They had just come off the leadership breakfast fiasco with Ann Stark. That woman was a harpy from the seventh gate of hell. She really did something to Toby though because CJ had never seen him drop the ball so bad.

“Hey baby, did you drown in there?”

“I’m coming.”

She dried, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and dressed in panties and a CCNY tee shirt she took as a souvenir after a semi-passionate with Toby close to a decade ago. Someday she would have to tell Leo all about that. He never questioned that the shirt came from Toby, but she had yet to give the dirty details.

“I am going to get you a Michigan tee shirt.” Leo said when she was beside him again.

“Is that a polite way of telling me you don’t like when I wear the shirt?” CJ asked.

“No. I’m going to have Sam get you one from Princeton, and Josh will get you one from Harvard. The President would love to see you in the Fighting Irish colors. Why do you think I don’t like the tee shirt? Is it a Toby thing?”

CJ sipped her coffee, taking the Metro section of the New York Times. She loved sharing the paper with her husband.

“I don’t know what you mean by a Toby thing.”

She looked at him. He looked back with his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. It was another Leo look... she loved them all.

“What?” she asked, getting her own glasses from the nightstand.

“What, what. We will have to talk about Toby eventually.”

“Its complicated.” CJ replied sighing.

“I’m your husband CJ, you know that you can tell me anything. I also know that our lives did not start when we fell in love. Whenever you want to talk I want to listen.”

She nodded, smiled when he squeezed her hand.

“Toby and I have known each other for a long time. I guess we always figured we’d be alone together, especially after Andi. He struggles with feelings of abandonment while still loving me and so am I. I hope that things get better soon because I know that he needs me and will not say.”

“He is bullheaded.” Leo said.

“Yes, I know. I seem to love bullheaded men. I don’t want to talk about Toby anymore except to say that I love him very much, just as I love Josh and Sam. It hurt when he pushed me away.” She looked at Leo. “We have a long history, like you and the President and Josh and Sam.”

“Yeah. Was it ever more than friendship?”

“Leo!”

“Damn, I really did not intend to say that. It just slipped CJ. I’m sorry it is none of my business.”

“It’s OK. I said I was not going to talk about Toby anymore remember?”

“Right. I’m going to focus on the crossword puzzle.”

“Hey, you promised I could do the New York Times this week.” CJ said.

“Oh come on, you always give up halfway through and then don’t give it to me in defeat and disgust until Wednesday. It’s practically obsolete by then. Do the Post.”

CJ smiled.

“I do not believe you; you are such a jerk. I do not give up halfway through.”

“Do so.” Leo replied.

“You're just a crossword puzzle geek, so there!” she licked out her tongue.

Leo looked at her and laughed.

“Shut up.” She poked his arm.

He laughed harder. CJ laughed too, leaning over on his shoulder. Then she kissed him. They made love all over the newspapers. CJ exhaled after she climaxed... Leo was still partially on top of her and she stroked him. God, he thought her the most amazing creature on Earth. Thunder was still booming; practically shaking the windows. CJ gripped him hard and Leo groaned.

“Toby and I were never lovers Leo.” She said. “I guess when a man and woman have known each other as long as we have a few things are bound to occur. But we never slept together.”

“OK.” Leo kissed her neck.

He pushed her legs apart as CJ guided him to exactly where she wanted him to be. Their lovemaking was gentle and graceful, almost like ballet. It still amazed her that he could be both aggressive and demanding and then soft and yielding. He would take control from her and give it back on the turn of a dime. Either way he did it CJ always came as if she was a college coed again. In a time where it seemed that even the Earth spinning on its axis was no longer a certainty, sex with Leo never failed her.

“Do not bite me!” Leo said when he knew she was coming. He grabbed one of the small pillows they kept on the bed. CJ bit down on it to release her tension. Leo teased her once about not being able to give into her primal urges and just scream. She told him that it was because they had sex in secret so long, she only knew how to stifle it anymore.

Leo collapsed on his side of the bed, hearing the newspapers crunching beneath him. CJ pulled him back into her arms.

“For that you can have the New York Times crossword.” She wore the smile she always did after sex.

“Thank you. I will forgive you for calling me a geek.”

She ran her hand down his back.

“This is everything I have always wanted Leo. When it’s crazy, I’m busy, sleep deprived, and I feel like the whole world is just a hamster wheel, I know that you’ll be there at the end of the day to hold me. Even if the end of the day is somewhere around one a.m.”

He entwined his fingers in hers.

“I love you Claudia Jean and I always will.”

They kissed.

“I’m hungry.” CJ said.

“You did just burn a significant number of calories. Come on, I’ll make you waffles.”

Leo got up and looked for his boxers in the tangle of sheets and paper on the bed. CJ sat up slowly, like a bored cat.

“I love you too Leopold. We have to do this all day in thing more often.”

“I wish baby. Let’s just make sure we enjoy the day we have.”

“I love it already.” CJ replied.

***


End file.
